Taking bookings online: what to decide before you start

Customers increasingly expect to book the way they shop: on their phone, at eleven at night, without ringing. Taking bookings online can fill gaps in your diary and cut the time spent on the phone. It works best when a few things are decided first.

Decide what people can book

Write down exactly what a customer chooses when they book. For an appointment it is usually the service, the person, the day and the time. For a B&B it is the room and the nights. For an event it is the date and the kind of ticket. For a course it is the class or the term.

Then decide how much notice you need, how far ahead people may book, and how long each kind of booking takes, including any time you need between them.

Keep one diary

Double bookings happen when the website, the phone and a paper diary each keep their own list. Choose one place that holds every booking, and make sure bookings taken by phone go into it too. If you or your staff keep personal calendars, make sure the times you are busy there are blocked as well.

Decide how people pay

There are three common ways:

• Pay on the day. Simplest for customers; you carry the risk of no-shows.

• A deposit when booking. A fair middle ground for longer or costlier appointments, and for rooms.

• Pay in full when booking. Usual for event tickets and courses.

Whichever you choose, say it clearly before the customer books, along with the total price.

Write your cancelling rules down

Say how late someone can cancel or change a booking for free, and what happens after that: whether a deposit is kept, or a fee is charged. Put the rules on the booking page itself, not only in your terms, and apply them the same way to everyone.

Know the consumer rules

When you sell to consumers at a distance, including online, the Consumer Rights Act 2022 usually gives them 14 days to change their mind. There are exceptions. The right to cancel does not apply to services such as accommodation, catering and leisure activities booked for a specific date or period. For other services, a customer who asks you to start within the 14 days may still cancel, but pays for what you have already provided.

Which rule applies depends on what you sell, so check your own case against the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission's guidance at ccpc.ie, or with a solicitor. This is general information, not legal advice.

Send a confirmation and a reminder

Every booking should end with a confirmation email that says what was booked, when, where, what was paid, and how to change or cancel. A reminder before the day cuts no-shows. A link to add the booking to the customer's own calendar helps too.

Look after people's details

A booking form collects personal details, so the data protection rules apply. Ask only for what you need to deliver the booking. If you need health information, for a treatment say, ask only what you must and keep it only as long as you need it. Our guide to GDPR and cookies covers the basics.

How Webseer does it

Webseer sites can take appointments (choose who, the day and the time), event tickets, room bookings by the night, and course places, with a waiting list when a class is full. Customers can pay on the day, pay a deposit or pay in full through Stripe, and change or cancel from the link in their confirmation while your free cancelling lasts. Confirmations and reminders go by email. Your team sees every booking in the Studio, can add one for someone who phoned, and can bring in the busy times from their own calendars so nobody is double booked. See how bookings work.